THE Great Central Railway is hoping toraise the roof at Loughborough Central Station but it needs another £100,000 to finish the job of re-building its canopy.

Thethousands of visitors to the line for the blockbuster Winter Gala can’t have failed to notice huge progress in the repairs to the grade two listed structure, locally known as ‘Loughborough’s Crystal Palace’.

Two thirds of it are completed with the last part due to be completed in two phases.

Providing the first £50,000 of the new appeal can be raised, repairs will begin in September this year and finish in December.

Providing the funds continue to flow, the very last section would begin in January 2013.

KateTilley, the marketing manager for the Great Central Railway said: “Essentially, all that remains is the part of the roof above platform one. To fully complete the job, we need to raise somewhere around £100,000, depending on what we find when we start to dismantle the structure.

“We’re on track to have finally ‘raised the roof’ by Spring 2013, a little over a year from now.

“Weappreciate every donation which has been given to the appeal so far, the money has been well spent and we hope that inspires supporters to help us with one last push.”